A carbon-rich substance found filling tiny cracks within a Martian meteorite could boost the idea that life once existed on the Red Planet. The material resembles that found in fractures, or "veins", apparently etched by microbes in volcanic glass from the Earth's ocean floor. Details will be presented at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston, Texas, next month. All the processes of life on Earth are based on the element carbon. Proving carbon in Martian meteorites is indigenous - and not contamination from Earth - is crucial to the question of whether life once arose on the Red Planet. Initial measurements support the idea that the "carbonaceous material" is not contamination, the scientists say. The research team includes scientists who brought evidence for microbial life in another Martian meteorite, ALH84001, to the world's attention in 1998. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk

Hauling everything he owned in a plastic garbage bag, Darryl Travis walked out of the chandeliered lobby of the Crowne Plaza, joining the exodus of Hurricane Katrina refugees evicted from their hotel rooms across the country Tuesday. The occupants of more than 4,500 government-paid hotel rooms were ordered to turn in their keys Tuesday, as the Federal Emergency Management Agency began cutting off money to pay for their stays. Far more people - the occupants of at least 20,000 hotel rooms, many of which housed entire families - were given extensions by FEMA until at least next week and possibly until March 1, said FEMA spokesman Butch Kinerney. FEMA said it gave people every possible opportunity to request an extension. ...http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-5601547,00.html

Sweden is to take the biggest energy step of any advanced western economy by trying to wean itself off oil completely within 15 years - without building a new generation of nuclear power stations.The attempt by the country of 9 million people to become the world's first practically oil-free economy is being planned by a committee of industrialists, academics, farmers, car makers, civil servants and others, who will report to parliament in several months. The intention, the Swedish government said yesterday, is to replace all fossil fuels with renewables before climate change destroys economies and growing oil scarcity leads to huge new price rises."Our dependency on oil should be broken by 2020," said Mona Sahlin, minister of sustainable development. "There shall always be better alternatives to oil, which means no house should need oil for heating, and no driver should need to turn solely to gasoline."...http://www.guardian.co.uk/oil/story/0,,1704954,00.html

The acting Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, said yesterday that he plans to annex the Jordan Valley and major Jewish settlement blocks to Israel in drawing new borders, according to a television station that recorded an interview with him yesterday. In Mr Olmert's first policy statement since he succeeded Ariel Sharon last month, Channel 2 television said that he made clear he intends to carry through his predecessor's vision of creating an emasculated Palestinian state on Israel's terms. If the Jewish state were to annex all of the Jordan Valley, which is dotted with small settlements, it would leave a future Palestinian state on the West Bank entirely surrounded by Israel and without a direct link to neighbouring countries. The interview was to be broadcast late last night. Channel 2's political affairs reporter, Nissim Mishal, told Army radio that Mr Olmert, who is favourite to win next month's general election, also plans further unilateral withdrawals similar ...http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1705021,00.html

Seven people are being treated for suspected bird flu in Iraq, where a possible third fatality indicates the lethal virus may have spread to the south. A 13-year-old boy from the southern Omara area, who developed symptoms of avian influenza on Feb. 1, was hospitalized with severe pneumonia on Feb. 5 and died the same day, the World Health Organization said in a statement yesterday. Previous cases in Iraq were found in the northern Sulaimaniyah area. ``Although no poultry deaths have been reported in the area, pet birds kept by the family are said to have died near the time of symptom onset,'' the WHO statement said. Samples from the boy have been taken and Iraqi health authorities will visit the Omara area today to investigate, it said. ...http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aaY8fSPkdGxk&refer=home

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization said it will maintain its mission in Afghanistan where protesters attacked peacekeeping bases to vent Muslim anger at the publication in Europe of cartoons of the prophet Muhammad. ``There should be no doubt of NATO'S commitment to this operation'' as a result of the violence, NATO spokesman James Appathurai said yesterday in Brussels. ``The situation is calming'' in Afghanistan. At least four Afghans were killed when protesters yesterday attacked Norwegian soldiers in the northern city of Maymana, Agence France-Presse reported. Demonstrations also took place in the capital, Kabul, and the western city of Herat, NATO said. ...http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=anSKaQyPzlWs&refer=home